Caitlin Burgess

Q1’s a Wrap, B2B Marketers: Where We’ve Been & What’s Next in 2019

Caitlin Burgess     B2B Marketing, Digital Marketing

Q1 Digital Marketing Recap

We made it, B2B marketers. Spring is finally in the air and Quarter 1 is officially a wrap. Take a moment to bask in your individual, team, and business successes—you earned it.

As is tradition, in just a few short months the digital marketing industry has experienced some newsworthy shifts—from a big Google algorithm update in March to a host of new targeting and advertising features across several platforms.

To build on the Q1 successes we just celebrated—and take full advantage of new opportunities—let’s take a look back at what 2019 has gifted us so far.

What’s new and worth paying attention to? What opportunities and challenges have arisen? And what do we all need to keep in mind as we move into and beyond Q2? Let’s dive in.


Q1’s a Wrap, B2B Marketers: Where We’ve Been & What’s Next in 2019
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Alexis Hall

How B2B Marketers Can Strategically Test New Digital Marketing Tactics

Alexis Hall     B2B Marketing, Digital Marketing

How to Strategically Test New B2B Marketing Tactics

When it comes to testing new marketing tactics, B2B marketers often find themselves in one of two camps:

  1. Chasing the new, shiny object. (Their motto: Let’s innovate, innovate, innovate!)
  2. Maintaining the status quo. (Their motto: We don’t mess with what’s working.)

Whichever camp you currently find yourself in, chances are high that you’re intrigued by what the other has to offer. The chasers are fearless innovators who are eager to test any new platform, media type, or strategy—and the keepers of the status quo are methodical budget managers who have proven tactics and processes on lockdown.

However, we’d suggest finding a middle (camp)ground: Testing strategically. (Your motto: I test to add to my success.)


How B2B Marketers Can Strategically Test New Digital Marketing Tactics
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Ashley Zeckman

So Long, San Diego! Top Takeaways From #SMMW19

Ashley Zeckman     Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing World

Have you ever experienced the post-party blues?

You know that feeling you have when the party has died down and everyone has gone home? The good news is, for years you’ll be left with the great memories of the things you learned and time you spent together (even if it was brief) long after the party ends.

While I was sad to leave sunny San Diego and the amazing marketers that I got to see and meet at Social Media Marketing World last week, I’m happy to have walked away with some incredible insights and deeper connections.

For those of you who were watching from afar (or attended but weren’t able to catch every session), I’ve included some top insights from the conference below. So, strap on your marketing (party) hat and join the festivities!


So Long, San Diego! Top Takeaways From #SMMW19
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Ashley Zeckman

Attribution Analysis: How Marketers Can Stay on the Cutting Edge & Prove Impact

Ashley Zeckman     Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing World, Web Analytics

With the amount of data available today, you’d think that marketers would be confident in reporting the impact of their efforts. Unfortunately, a recent study from The CMO Survey found that the #1 C-suite communication challenge for marketers is STILL demonstrating the impact of their work on financial outcomes.

Part of the reason for this struggle is that while data is readily available, we aren’t tracking the right metrics, and may even struggle to understand how to set up proper tracking to access the information we need. And as we know, poor tracking leads to poor performance which leads to unhappy leadership teams.

In his presentation at Social Media Marketing World last week, Chris Penn took a deep dive into a framework for collecting high-quality data and the different options available for properly attributing the results of your marketing efforts.


Attribution Analysis: How Marketers Can Stay on the Cutting Edge & Prove Impact
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Anne Leuman

Dropping Digital Distractions With Brian Solis

Anne Leuman     Digital Marketing, Marketing PR Conferences, Social Media Marketing World

Brian Solis at Social Media Marketing World 2019

Photos. Texts. Emails. Video. Digital is a pivotal part of our daily lives.

So what if we stopped using it?

Brian Solis, the author of Lifescale: How to live a more creative, productive and happy life, wants us to think hard about our digital distractions and drop them from our habitual behavior. As digital marketers, this notion sounds antithetical to our mission. But Brian promises that disconnecting is beneficial to marketers as well.

Below, I share Brian’s thoughts on digital distraction and business from his session at Social Media Marketing World 2019.

Focus Is Elusive

“My ability to be creative, to dive deep, to focus, to give myself time away from my device, was not only difficult but impossible,” Brian said.


Dropping Digital Distractions With Brian Solis
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Anne Leuman

Why Marketers Need to Care About Blockchain With Joel Comm and Travis Wright

Anne Leuman     Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing World

Everyone has that one family member that invested in Bitcoin (or another cryptocurrency) – without knowing anything about it.

For my family, that person was my brother.

Before he invested in Bitcoin, he probably should have come with me to Joel Comm and Travis Wright’s Social Media Marketing World session on blockchain and cryptocurrency. That way he would understand the real value and potential of this new technology, instead of just blindly jumping on a hot investment trend.

One thing’s for sure after hearing from Joel and Travis – blockchain and cryptocurrency will revolutionize much of the world today, including marketing. Read on to learn why that is.

The World Is Ripe for Disruption

“Everything changes, nothing stays the same,” Joel said, using examples of disruption to prove his statement.


Why Marketers Need to Care About Blockchain With Joel Comm and Travis Wright
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Anne Leuman

Augmented Reality: How to Leverage AR in Marketing With Cathy Hackl

Anne Leuman     Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing World

What do you think of when you think of augmented reality?

If you’re anything like me, you first thought of Snapchat filters, Pokemon Go, or the useful measuring tape app you have on your phone.

Augmented reality (AR) and applying it to marketing campaigns is still a little bit of a mystery. It’s not as popular as other tactics, but it’s attractive because it creates more immersive experiences for customers. As a marketer, it’s something I need to learn a bit more about.

Because of this, Cathy Hackl’s session at Social Media Marketing World 2019 immediately caught my eye. As an AR technology thought leader and futurist, Cathy was able to give insight into how marketers can weave augmented reality into the marketing mix. Below, I share the top takeaways from her session.


Augmented Reality: How to Leverage AR in Marketing With Cathy Hackl
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Lane Ellis

Around the World in 50 Captivating Digital Marketing Statistics

Lane Ellis     Digital Marketing

Hot air balloons floating over the Sydney Opera House.

Sit back and join us for a journey through 50 recent digital marketing statistics that combine to tell a captivating tale of change, innovation, and generational preferences in an industry that changes faster than Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg could ever have envisioned in “Around The World in 80 Days.”

via GIPHY

Statistics exploring each of the B2B, influencer, content, and social media flavors of marketing combine to tell a captivating and unique story of how digital marketing has evolved over the past year, and offer us a great opportunity to better understand which trends the numbers are pointing to for the future.


Around the World in 50 Captivating Digital Marketing Statistics
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Ashley Zeckman

The Future (& Present) of Marketing: Collaboration, Technology & Innovation

Ashley Zeckman     B2B Marketing, Digital Marketing, Marketing & PR Industry

What do you get when you combine an enterprise CMO and a partner at one of the world’s largest professional services firms?

I can’t speak for all scenarios but at B2BMX in Scottsdale this week, it led to an entertaining and insightful conversation, from two different perspectives.

Jeanniey Mullen, former CMO of Mercer and Vince Walden, Partner at Ernst and Young led an engaging discussion on the importance of innovation within organizations (large and small) as well as opportunities for better operationalizing your marketing department. Below are three ideas for how to future and present-proof your marketing.   

3 Ideas for Future-Proofing Your Marketing

Encourage Cross-Functional Collaboration

Often when brands talk about collaborating with others, it’s in the context of their own departments. Marketing teams look for insights from other marketers, salespeople look to a top seller and so on.


The Future (& Present) of Marketing: Collaboration, Technology & Innovation
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Caitlin Burgess

For Our Marketing Team, These 7 Super Awesome Commercials Are Big Winners

Caitlin Burgess     Content Marketing, Digital Marketing

Our Favorite Super Bowl 2019 Ads

It’s an absolute phenomenon.

According to the sacred laws of modern television, digital, and on-demand viewing, consumers spend a whopping 364 days a year actively avoiding advertising and marketing messages.

From strategic bathroom breaks and the embracing of alternative, bingeable entertainment channels to the installation of ad-blockers, consumers want to avoid unsanctioned commercial interruptions—whenever and wherever they’re enjoying content.

But when Super Bowl Sunday rolls around, it’s Opposite Day—and for a few glorious hours, we’re on the edge of our seats with excited anticipation of the next ad to dance across the screen. It’s the Super Ad Bowl.

For the average consumer, this phenomenon is simply an entertainment tradition. For marketers, it’s a series of case studies in marketing storytelling, creativity, and boldness in action.


For Our Marketing Team, These 7 Super Awesome Commercials Are Big Winners
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Lee Odden

Top Marketing Resources for CMOs in 2019

Lee Odden     Digital Marketing

Marketing Resources CMO

A seat at the executive table for marketers in the form of the CMO role has not come without costs. CMOs have half the tenure of CEOs and the spotlight is on marketing leadership like never before.

While it’s undoubtedly a tough job, there’s plenty of opportunity. More than 25% of CEOs at large publicly traded companies have a marketing background. A CMO title has become the ultimate goal for many marketers and those that make the grade have to continue working hard on advancing their knowledge, skills and staying on top of industry trends.

To help CMOs and aspiring CMOs connect to strategic, useful and engaging information, here are 5 of the top resources worthy of a CMOs time.


Top Marketing Resources for CMOs in 2019
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Alexis Hall

How to Choose a B2B Marketing Agency that Can Evolve with Your Needs

Alexis Hall     B2B Marketing, Digital Marketing

How to Choose an Agency That Will Evolve with Your Needs

B2B brands’ marketing departments are constantly evolving. Over the past 10 years, marketing teams have undergone a seismic shift to accommodate changing technology, millennial consumers and employees, and to breakdown silos between marketing and the rest of the business.

To keep pace with the changing marketplace, many B2B brands are working to find the perfect balance between growing out their in-house digital marketing team and partnering with an external digital marketing agency. Most brands are seeking agency partners to provide a spectrum of services, from tactical support to creative strategy and content innovation. And they need a partner that can adapt and evolve along with their marketing needs and opportunities.

So, the question is: To find that partner that can grow and adapt to your needs, what should you be looking for?


How to Choose a B2B Marketing Agency that Can Evolve with Your Needs
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